Bengals Statistics

Browns Statistics

Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoCharles Rex Arbogast | Associated PressThe Vikings’ Adrian Peterson, who ranks third in the NFL with 193 rushing yards — 78 of which came on Minnesota’s first snap of the season — will be going up against a Browns defense that is allowing just 2.02 yards per rush, lowest in the league.

By Dave CampbellAssociated Press • Sunday September 22, 2013 7:48 AM

MINNEAPOLIS — Adrian Peterson’s last game against the Browns produced one of the most
breathtaking runs of his brilliant career. • This time, the Vikings will find a better front seven
trying to stop him.

Two games is a small sample size, but the Browns have allowed a league-low 2.02 yards per
rushing attempt. That hasn’t been enough to trump a broken-down offense, but this is a stronger
group, led by Desmond Bryant, D’Qwell Jackson, Paul Kruger and Jabaal Sheard. Rookie Barkevious
Mingo, the sixth overall pick in the April draft, is a budding star.

With opponents constantly stacked up against the line of scrimmage focusing on him rather than
the unproven passing attack, Peterson probably can expect more of the same tough yards today in
Minnesota’s home opener.

The long gains looked easy in 2009, though, when Peterson rushed 25 times for 180 yards and
three touchdowns in Cleveland during Brett Favre’s debut with the Vikings. The Browns gave up the
fifth-most yards rushing in the NFL that year, 64 of which came on a memorable fourth-quarter carry
by Peterson.

On the verge of being forced out of bounds after sprinting into the secondary, Peterson paused
to use his right arm to grab Browns cornerback Eric Wright by the shoulder and toss him to the
turf. Then he restarted his run, accelerated fast enough to escape the next wave of defenders and
raced into the end zone.

Peterson is third in the league with 193 yards rushing this year, but since a 78-yard touchdown
on the first snap of the season, he hasn’t found much room. Coach Leslie Frazier went so far as to
describe him as tentative in last week’s loss to the Bears, and Peterson didn’t disagree.

“Even though I didn’t realize it when I was out there,” he said, “I could see on film that I was
trying to do too much instead of taking what the defense gave me.”

With Brandon Weeden out because of a sprained right thumb, the Browns picked third-string
quarterback Brian Hoyer over backup Jason Campbell, who has 71 career starts to Hoyer’s one, which
came in the last game of 2012 for Arizona.

The Browns have one touchdown and 16 points this season.

“We hope he’s a spark for the offense,” left tackle Joe Thomas said.

Hoyer won’t be the only newcomer behind the line. The Browns stunningly traded Trent Richardson,
the third pick in last year’s draft, to Indianapolis. Two-time Pro Bowl pick Willis McGahee, 31,
was hastily signed on Thursday. The only true running back on the roster is Bobby Rainey, whose
next carry will be his first in the NFL.

“It’s a fresh start, a new beginning,” McGahee said. “The players are great, it’s a young team.
We’ve got work to do.”

McGahee has a familiarity with the offense, but knows he must get the language down.

“I want to come and do everything I can,” he said. “But I gotta gradually come in. I just can’t
come in and do the whole workload. But I’m going to do whatever it takes.”

McGahee hasn’t played since Nov. 18, when he suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his
right knee and fractured lower right leg with the Broncos against the San Diego Chargers. He had
been training in Florida since the Broncos cut him in June, waiting for a shot with another
team.

Little did McGahee know the trade that shocked the NFL on Wednesday would bring him to
Cleveland. McGahee said the Browns called his agent on Monday, the day before CEO Joe Banner said
he began talking to the Colts about dealing Richardson, the third overall pick in the 2012
draft.

“Honestly, to tell you the truth, when I got the call, he hadn’t been traded yet, and I thought,
‘I’m going to be working with Trent Richardson,’ ” said McGahee, who made the Pro Bowl in 2007 and
2011. “Then my friend called me and told me, ‘They just traded Trent.’ I called my agent, and he
didn’t even know it. It’s the NFL. That’s how it is.”

The Browns’ ailing offense will get a boost with the return of receiver Josh Gordon, who served
a two-game suspension for failing a drug test.

Last year, Gordon was third among NFL rookies with 805 yards receiving, and all five of his
touchdown catches measured 20-plus yards. He starts alongside Davone Bess, with Greg Little in a
reserve role.

“He’s not going to be the savior … but it will help getting a guy that’s been able to make plays
on the field,” coach Rob Chudzinski said.